


Tea for Two

by ChillyHollow



Category: Cormoran Strike Series - Robert Galbraith, Strike (TV 2017)
Genre: Gen, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:59:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22332997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillyHollow/pseuds/ChillyHollow
Summary: Sharing Tea means sharing more than tea
Relationships: Friendship - Relationship, partners - Relationship
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37





	Tea for Two

The first time he realized his new secretary was something special was when she appeared with coffee, milk, sugar and cups on her first day to give a new client.Since he had none of the above, he wondered if she was a magician in her spare time.He bought the office some cheap cups and a box of their own tea bags shortly thereafter, spurred on by a hint of the lascivious Mr. Crowdy’s behavior when she’d borrowed the coffee set from him.

The second time he realized she was very special was when she managed to brew his tea to creosote-colored perfection on the first attempt.He never had to tell her anything more than once.That alone was a miracle, given the skill set of his previous Temporary Solutions. 

When she ran to the bathroom to fill the kettle to make the devestated Mrs. Hook another cup of tea after they’d delivered the news her husband was having an affair with her sister, he noticed she’d looked up his father on Wikipedia.She never said a word about his notorious parents, which was another miracle. 

She made him a cup of tea the day he overslept in his office while giving him the news she’d found Rochelle Onifade.She even had directions ready for him to the clinic where Rochelle had an appointment.Her tactful knock, the perfect cup of tea, how she avoided the topic of his current homelessness, she was a paragon among women.He appreciated her but he wanted to avoid their growing intimacy.She was engaged, and even if she wasn’t, the business needed her.Any relationship beyond boss and employee threatened his new firm.That he could not have. 

But he made her tea when he apologized for getting wildly drunk after Charlotte had left a message she was marrying Jago Ross.He had been surprised at how much she was able to find out on her own about the case while he was working another angle.They traded information over their cups of tea, each building on the other’s results.He realized that she was a superb partner, an asset to his business that he couldn’t afford to lose.And besides, sitting across from her desk sharing tea and biscuits and trading ideas was one of the great pleasures of his life.

She had no desire to improve or correct him.All she asked was to learn and be allowed to put forth her own ideas about the business.He made her tea, she made him a better man as he tried to be worthy of such a partner.Together he thought they might eventually have the best agency in London.

He made her tea when the severed leg was sent to them, trying to give her comfort distilled into hot strong tea.She brought him tea bags from Bettys of Harrogate, saying they were better than anything they could get at Waitrose.He made tea for her again when the Shacklewell Ripper left a digit in her flat, doing his best to project safety and affection and caring without touching her.

She made tea for him quite often in the _I Love Cornwall_ mug she’d given him for his birthday after she married Matthew, and that made their new constraint toward each other a bit more bearable.He made tea for her in return as their relationship moved from tension and worry into friendship, deep affection and trust.She used tea to crack the ice around the heart of this self-contained, proud man.He used tea to nurture this intelligent, vibrant woman’s self-assurance.

Once she was free of her ex-husband, he made her tea to tell her he loved her without telling her.And she made him tea to tell him she loved him back without telling him.One day they will admit to each other what they feel, and when they do, it will be over cups of strong, hot tea.


End file.
